Smokers' perceived cancer risks: attributions of the risks and the roles of risks in planning to quit smoking.

Abstract

This study proposed that smokers' perceived cancer risks differ emotionally and cognitively; the former is based on perceived smoking-related causes, while the latter is based more on perceived non-smoking related causes. It further examined the role of perceived reasons for cancer risk, as well as perceived risks, in planning smoking cessation. The study drew a sample of daily smokers, intermittent smokers and previous smokers (as a reference category) from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS). It used complex sample analysis through the SPSS package to run a series of regression models. In the general linear model with the dependent variable of cancer worry, the cancer worry was projected from perceived smoking-related causes more among previous smokers than intermittent smokers, revealing a pattern of self-serving assessment of cancer risks among intermittent smokers. Intermittent smokers were more pessimistic (perceived non-smoking-related causes) than previous smokers about the perceived likelihood of cancer. In the logistic regression model with the dependent variable of planning to quit smoking, pessimistic daily smokers were less likely to plan on quitting than intermittent smokers, though daily smokers who felt a greater likelihood of cancer risk did plan on quitting. Participants' assessment of cancer risks from perceived non-smoking-related reasons implies that one's smoking habit plays a minimal role in perceiving health statuses.